Garcia sunk after double whammy

Golf Tour Scene News round-up: So, did he choke? Not once, but twice? Sergio Garcia is not known as someone who fades away when put into a winning position, either on the US Tour or on the PGA European Tour.

However, the Spaniard's final round collapse in the Wachovia Championship on Sunday - where he took the unenviable distinction of equalling the record cave-in of six shots previously held by Greg Norman in the 1996 US Masters - was akin to a spruced-up sports car suddenly developing an oil leak and spluttering to a stop by the side of the road.

To be fair to Garcia, it was totally against character. On the five previous occasions he had carried a 54-holes lead into the final round of a tournament, Garcia had got the job finished four times: in last year's Byron Nelson Classic and the 2001 Buick Classic on the US Tour; and in last year's Mallorca Classic and the 2002 Spanish Open.

The only time (until Sunday) he hadn't managed to follow a third-round lead through to a winning finish was in the Greg Norman International in 2001, when losing a play-off to Aaron Baddeley.

What was different about Sunday's collapse was the sheer scale of Garcia's lead - six shots - going into the final round and what compounded it somewhat was that, after losing the lead initially, he regained it and held a one-shot lead with two holes to play until putting his tee-shot on the 17th into the lake.

In the end, Garcia did get into a play-off with Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk after the trio finished the 72-holes on 12-under-par 276 but he was to prove a bit player in the major drama as he exited at the first hole of sudden-death before Singh finally claimed his third title of the season by overcoming Furyk at the fourth tie hole.

"They say you learn more from your losses than your wins," said a philosophical Garcia, who defends his Byron Nelson title this week in a field that includes seven players from the world's top 10 including Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh - who didn't overtake Woods, despite his victory but could do so if he wins in Texas - Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.

Garcia, for one, didn't believe he would be affected by his uncustomary meltdown insisting he would take the "positive things out of the week. It's going to help me to keep going . . . I've just got to relax until Thursday and get everything back into shape. You know, it's one of those things. I'm disappointed, make no mistake about that, but at the same time I'm happy with the way I performed all week."

His runner-up position enabled him to move up to eighth in the latest world rankings, leapfrogging over Padraig Harrington who has a week's rest before resuming tournament play on the European Tour in next week's Nissan Irish Open at Carton House, after which he will play in the BMW Championship at Wentworth.

For Singh, it was further confirmation of the intimidating presence he has on a field when the time comes for business to be concluded in the final round.

He claimed his 27th title on the US Tour - and his 15th since turning 40 years of age - with a winning par at the fourth tie hole after Furyk pulled his drive on the 18th (the third time in an hour he had to play the finishing hole) into the creek down the left.

"He's a tough competitor," remarked Furyk of his conqueror.

The two live close-by in Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, and Furyk added: "He works hard. I see how hard he works at home, not only on his game but with his physical fitness. He lives and breathes golf and has a one-track mind and no one works harder than him, so he deserves a lot of success. You know, I'd never have that 'I wish someone else would win if I couldn't' attitude, especially after losing a play-off. But I respect him as a person. I respect his game and how hard he works and it is good for a lot of people to emulate."

Singh remarked after his win in the Shell Houston Open a fortnight ago that he was playing better golf than last year, when he won nine times in a stellar season. And he repeated that belief after his win in the Wachovia.

"I'm playing better golf this year, it's just that I won more times last year. I feel good about my golf game, my driving; my putting is not as good as last year, but I still don't feel like I'm putting badly, they're just not going in the holes."

He added: "I'm just happy with the whole swing thing, I'm not fighting my golf swing any more. I'm setting up over the ball and just putting a golf swing on it. It has gotten more and more consistent since last year and right now I just very comfortable with it. I think it's about working on your golf swing, about knowing what to work on and getting all the mechanics together and firing in one sequence.

"Everything is in sync. My shoulders, my hips and my legs are all going together with my club head. Once you do that, you're going to hit good shots."

Singh, who intends taking two weeks off after the Byron Nelson before returning for the US Open at Pinehurst, was somewhat sympathetic to Garcia's final round fall from grace.

"Sometimes it is harder to play with a big lead," he observed. "I've found that myself. If you're five, six shots up, for some reason you don't want to lose the golf tournament. Instead of trying to win the golf tournament, you don't want to lose it. I guess you learn from such experiences. He's got a lot of talent, his name is going to be up there many, many times."

For a change, there will be no Irish involvement on the US Tour this week as the focus switches to this side of the Atlantic for an intensive few weeks that takes in this week's British Masters, next week's Nissan Irish Open and the following week's BMW, formerly the Volvo PGA.

There are nine Irish players in action in the 2.5 million British Masters at the Forest of Arden, headed by world number 14 Darren Clarke, who resumes play after a two-week break. Clarke is joined in the field by Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, David Higgins, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and amateur Rory McIlroy.

Higgins, who currently heads the Challenge Tour order of merit, has received an invite into the British Masters and plays next week's Irish Open and the BMW by right, so he has a three-week stint on the full tour.

Michael Hoey, though, has to return to the Challenge Tour for this week's Tessali Open in Italy where other Irish players in the field include Justin Kehoe, Noel Fox, Colm Moriarty and Tim Rice.

IRISH POSITIONS ON EUROPEAN TOUR ORDER OF MERIT: 25th, P McGinley (7) €202,301; 30th, P Lawrie (14) €177,380; 40th, P Harrington (4) €142,306; 41st, D Clarke (3) €141,343; 66th, G McDowell (5) €89,683; 69th, D McGrane (14) €83,747; 134th, G Murphy (11) €34,207; 186th, M Hoey (3) €18,034; 229th, S Browne (9) €8,149; 284th, P Walton (7) €1,107.